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DLTK's Bible Crafts for KidsHow a Christian is like a
Pumpkin

Thanks to Amber for sharing this with us!

This is a fun way to share the Christian message! It would be great to
use around Halloween or Fall.

A lady recently being baptized was asked by a co-worker what it was like to
be a Christian. She replied, "It's like being a pumpkin:
God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off you
may have gotten from the other pumpkins.
Then he cuts the top off and scoops out all the yucky stuff.
He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc.
Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine
for all the world to see."

1. Take a pumpkin. "You aren't a pumpkin, but all
of us are something like one. God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and
washes all the dirt off you may have gotten from the other pumpkins." Talk about
how a pumpkin is like us: it has an outside and an inside. The outside is what
people see. The inside is like our soul or our heart. A pumpkin left to itself
will soon rot and die. We will die some day too."

2. Carve out eyes and a small "o" shaped mouth. As you make the
holes and pull out the pieces of rind, ask people what they see inside (yucky
stuff).
"This is what we look like to others and what we are like
when are hearts are not changed. The hearts of men are full of evil and there is
madness in their hearts while they live (Ecclesiastes 9:3). How can we get rid
of this icky stuff?"

3. "God is the only one who can change our heart.
But in order for God to change our heart we must become open to him."
Carve an opening in the top of the pumpkin big enough to put your hand
through.
You might want to quote Revelation 3:20: Here I am! I
stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will
come in and eat with him, and he with me.

4. Put in your hand and pull out the insides. "God
scoops out all the yucky stuff inside of us. He removes the seeds of doubt,
hate, impurity, and greed." Talk about the cross and how Jesus was willing to
become messy for us, so that we might be clean. I will cleanse you from all your
impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new
spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart
of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and
be careful to keep my laws. (Ezekiel 36:25b-27).

5. "But if we leave a pumpkin with just the
insides taken out, then it's just hollow. We need to have a light inside that
will truly make us alive! Jesus said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever
follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'
Add a light to the inside of the pumpkin.
"When Jesus lives inside of you, you can glow! You will
want to be kind and honest. You will want to please God, to help others, and to
tell other people about your Friend and Lord."

6. At this point you might want to carve the mouth into a smile! "God carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for
all the world to see."